EXTERNAL EORM, AS INDICATED BY POINTS 13 



and hunter, therefore, capacity of chest must be obtained by depth rather 

 than Avidth ; while in the cart-horse, a wide chest and a frame roomy in 

 all directions is desired, so as to give good wind, and, at the same time, 

 enable the animal to keep vip his flesh while working eight or nine hours 

 per day. For light, quick draught, a formation intermediate between the 

 two is the proper one ; the large frame of the cart-horse being too heavy 

 for the legs to bear at a fast rate, and leading to their rapid destruction 

 in trotting over our modern hard roads. The capacity of the lungs is 

 marked by the size of the chest at the girth ; but the stamina will depend 

 upon the depth of the back ribs, which should be especially attended to. 



A SHORT BACK, with plenty of ground covered nevertheless, is the desid- 

 eratum of every practised horseman. Unless the measurement from the 

 shoulder-point to the back of the quarters is somewhat greater than the 

 height at the withers, the action is confined, especially in the gallop, for 

 the hind-legs cannot be brought sufficiently forward on account of the 

 interference of the fore-quarter ; and, indeed, from the want of play in 

 the back, they are generally too much crippled in that respect. A horse 

 " short above and long below " is the perfection of shape in this particular, 

 but he is not very commonly met with. Where length below is seen, 

 there is generally too much space between the last rib and the hip, while, 

 on the other hand, coupled with a short back we too often see the legs all 

 " jumped up together," and the action short and stumpy. Next to these 

 points in the middlepiece, it is important to pay attention to the upper 

 line of the back, which should bend down a little behind the withers, and 

 then swell out very gently to the junction with the loins, which can 

 hardly be too wide and muscular. The inexperienced eye will often be 

 deceived by the hips, for if these are narrow the muscles rise above them, 

 and make the loin and back look stronger than they really are, the 

 contrary being the case where the hips are wide and ragged. This latter 

 formation, though not so elegant as the level hip, is prized by the man 

 who wishes to be carried well to hounds, and he will jump at a horse 

 which would be passed over with contempt by the tyro as " a great raw- 

 boned brute." A slightly arched loin is essential to the power of carrying 

 weight ; a much arched, or " hog" back, is almost sure to give uneasy action 

 from its want of elasticity. 



In examining the Hind-quarter, so much depends upon the breed, and 

 the purposes to which the animal is to be put, that only a few general 

 remarks can be given. Thus, for high speed, there should be plenty of 

 length in the two bones which unite at the stifle-joint, without which the 

 stride must be more or less limited in extent. The exact position of the 

 hip-joint not being easily detected, the tyro has some difficulty in estimat- 

 ing the length from it to the stifle-joint, but he can readily measure the 

 length from the root of the tail, either with his eye or with a tape, if he 

 cannot depend upon his organ of sight. In a flat outline this will come to 

 twenty-four inches in a horse of 1 5 hands 3 inches, but measured round the 

 surface it will be two inches more. Again, the lower thigh or gaskin 

 should be of about the same length ; but if measured from the stifle to the 

 point of the hock it will be fully twenty-eight inches in a well-made horse of 

 high breeding. These measurements, however, will be much greater in pro- 

 portion than those of the cart-horse, who requires strength before all things, 



